am very new at this whole tetra experience so forgive me if I do not use the correct terms! i recently got a 55 gallon tank. there are 3 tetras in there. one of them is very pregnant. i would like to separate her from the others to keep the frys alive. from researching in this site i have read that the female and male have to rub against each other for the eggs to scatter. what if i dont know who the male partner is? can i just separate the female by herself? will she be able to scatter her eggs? i have had mollys before and there really wasnt much to do with the frys there. they pretty much took care of themselves. but with tetra frys there sounds to be more maintance. am i wrong?

thanks for all the help!

Tetras lay eggs. The male must be present at the time that the eggs come out of her for them to be fertilized. If a female is egg-laden and by herself, she usually re-absorbs the eggs but sometimes develops egg binding (infected eggs). She can't lay the eggs alone although sometimes they do seep out (mostly with goldfish). Those eggs would not be fertile or viable.

Tetras are not truly "pregnant" but egg-laden during which time they look slightly enlarged. If a fish is hugely fat, it probably has something else going on like an internal bacterial infection like dropsy or fish tuberculosis or perhaps a kidney malfunction. We all hope your tetra is indeed egg-laden instead. In that case, keep her with the other tetras with some soft plants around like java moss.

For more on separating and caring for fry, see
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/breed.htm